I have a 2003 Saturn ION. I am having issues with my driver's side front window and back window. I am pretty sure they are two separate problems. First, my driver side front window will go down when I press the button but has issues rolling up. Sometimes it will go up and other times it won't. Sometimes I have to hold the button down for a long time for it to go up. Any thoughts on how to fix this? For my driver side back window, someone made it go down and it also won't go back up. However it collapsed inside the door, I manually pulled up the window with my hands and currently have it held up by sticks that I have pried between the window and door panel. Any thoughts on either of these issues would be helpful would be great! Thanks, I am hoping to fix by myself if possible.

 

Front window sounds like dying motor or binding on the way up.

Rear window sounds like broken regulator which is what the bottom of the glass sits on inside the door.

Won't know for sure until you remove the inner panels to inspect.

Don't use the front window once you get it up and closed. You don't want the motor dying with the window half open.

 

Thanks for the advice. I’m thinking. The front window is a switch issue. My wife showed me how she pressed the switch and it went right up.

 

Well there's something I wasn't aware of.
Don't mind helping but we need all the info up front (please) if we are to be able to help you.

What's different about the way she actuates the switch versus the way you actuate the switch?

 

Here is all the info now.

I purchased the vehicle in October 2022. When I did the test drive, I noticed the driver side window would not function properly. It would go down okay but would only go up an inch at a time when pressing it forward. So in for the window to get completely up, you would have to press the up 20-30 times. The dealer said that they would replace the switch at no cost. They had to order the part and then bring it back to the dealership for replacement. After awhile, I found out a way to press the up part to make it go up smooth and many times go up without any issues whatsoever. So, I just kept dealing with it and finding ways to get the window up. I didn't take it back to the dealership like I should have. Over the past weeks, pressing the up button would be unresponsive at least for me.

 

I don't know if the ion window switches are designed the same as the S car window switches were designed, but if we assume they are similar,

Having owned 2 s cars for a combined total of almost 500,000 MI, what happens is that the part you use to actuate the switch mechanism underneath starts to wear funny in such a way that the contacts are not always closed when you pull up on the switch. Same for pushing down in some cases. This is caused by 8 million operations of the switch that are not 100% up and down but are slightly off angle. The switch itself wears a rut in the plastic part you are actuating and it then follows that rut instead of going straight up and down perpendicular to this switch contacts.

Therefore the contacts don't always close and the window does not always operate properly.

If the window goes up only a small amount at a time but that behavior is reproducible as opposed to trying to continuously move the window up but doing it very very slowly, they are likely still manifestations of the window motor being defective. I say that because there is no switch programming for behavior that I know of other than possibly an Express up or Express down but those are controlled at the switch simply by which contacts the switch you actuate are closing.

Did you state that your wife can make the window go up all with one actuation of the switch? Please watch her do it and see if she is pulling straight up on the switch and holding it. It may be that you are pulling off axis and the contacts only stay closed for 2 seconds at a time. I suppose you could try pulling straight up on your own to see if it matters.

If I'm wrong about that, then I still suspect the motor is failing.

Check if the rear drivers window uses the same exact motor as the driver door. I know that window has a broken regulator but you should be able to disconnect the motor carefully without disturbing the rest of everything. If you plug it into the front driver motor connector and everything works properly, then it is the motor.

You cannot use the motors from the right side of the car because they spin in the opposite direction.